Moonlit Solace
by Kittah
Summary: AWL Muffy is feeling pretty down about losing her chance with Jack. Someone unexpected takes notice of her late-night moping and takes her mind off what happened without even realizing. MuffyxRock


Hello there everybody... I'm Kittie... and after a few years of _reading_ all kinds of fanfiction, I've finally got an account and am posting my first fic. Hopefully I won't manage to screw up too horribly! Well, here goes.

This little one-shot was inspired from seeing Muffy moping around on the beach if you marry one of the other girls... she looks so sad and lonely.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harvest Moon, or any of the characters, or there would probably be some pretty weird stuff going on in some of the games...

**Pairings**: Slight MuffyxRock, mentioned CeliaxJack

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The waves silently inched their way up onto the sandy shore, nearly touching my toes. The sand beneath me had been warmed with how long I'd been sitting here, just thinking. The layered clouds that normally accompanied the moon at this very late hour were nowhere in sight. There wasn't too much wind tonight either, so the water was nice and calm. Almost the exact opposite of how I felt. 

"That idiot." I muttered quietly to myself. "Couldn't he see... ?"

_He_ was the reason I felt so horrible. It was _his_ fault... not entirely, but still.

"He loved another girl. I just have to move on." I sighed, drawing in the damp sand with a stick, resting my chin against my knees. I should have told him... told him before he went and got married to someone else.

I shivered. Reminding myself of the marriage had brought up a few bad memories. I remembered standing there, looking at Celia's wide grin, and forcing myself into a fake smile. She'd looked so happy, so excited, so unaware of the way my heart was slowly shredding itself into little pieces.

I stabbed the poplar twig into the closest heart drawing in the sand, fiercely carving a thick crack through the center.

As the happy couple, full in their oblivious haze of joy, moved on to share the news with the rest of Forget-Me-Not Valley, I turned, re-entering the bar. With shaking hands, I opened the door leading to the back, quickly ascending the ladder into my lofty room.

I hadn't wanted to pretend anymore. I couldn't... I hid myself away in my room for a few hours, regretting that I hadn't told him how much I loved him. He was always so kind to me, too. There were plenty of times I could have said that to him. But would that have changed his mind in the end? Or would he have still married someone else, regardless of the fact that I was completely in love with him?

Maybe that was my problem. Getting too deep into one-sided love could be dangerous. Besides, Fate just never seemed to smile down on my heart, this kind of thing seemed to happened far too often. "Maybe I should just give up on love..." I muttered sadly.

"Oh, Muffy." A voice spoke up from behind me. "Love is unfair." I spun around to see who was there, surprised by the interruption.

There was Rock, standing a few feet behind me, staring out across the water, in all his casual, smug glory. His eyes were glowing with their standard playfulness. "Sorry Muffy, was I eavesdropping?" He asked, preparing to head back to the inn.

"Just a little. Nothing... too important." I answered, slowly turning back to the hearts I'd been scribbling in the sand.

"Okay. So if it's nothing too important, I can stay, right?" He said in his usual carefree tone.

I waited for a few seconds before answering. "If you have to, I suppose." I didn't particularly want him around. Or anyone, for that matter. Except I couldn't just tell him to leave me alone. No one had to know anything was wrong...

Rock walked up and seated himself beside me. "So, what are you doing out here, all by yourself? Other than scribbling hearts in the sand, that is." He asked humourously.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. He wasn't supposed to see those. "They aren't hearts," I lied, "they're butterflies."

He chuckled lightly, smiling at me. "Whatever you say, Muffy." He exhaled deeply and crossed his legs. "So, what are you doing out here, really?"

I blinked, watching the waves and fabricating a few excuses for why I was on the beach at this hour. "Nothing. Just... being out here and enjoying the night. Why are you out here?"

"Well, I saw you out here all by yourself and thought you might be lonely. You know... you've only started coming out here this late recently."

"Really?" I murmured. I'd have to watch myself more carefully. If Rock, of all people, had observed my change in routine, surely there were others in this small village who'd noticed as well.

We sat there in silence for a few seconds before I decided to ask something. "Um, I was just wondering... what did you mean by 'love is unfair'? Did something happen between you and Lumina?" I thought they'd been dating, or something. I remember seeing them hanging around each other at times, but now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen them together recently.

Rock snorted. "Tch. Lumina's too young for me. How old is she? Thirteen now, is it? Or fourteen?" He sighed, laying down on the cool sand. "Either way, she's just a little too young for me, see? Besides, she's kind of... annoying."

I'm sure Rock knew all about being _annoying_. I really wished he would get up and return to whatever it was he enjoyed spending his evenings doing. Regardless, I continued on with our conversation, hoping that if I pried enough he'd leave on his own accord. "Ah. So was there actually something going on between you two before? Or was that just your... flirtatiousness showing?"

That shocked him, for a second anyway. "Fl-flirtatiousness?" He slipped his casual demeanour back in place, matching my playful tone. "Are you calling me a player, Muffy?"

"Well... I don't know if I would say that... " I stated airily, a slight grin working it's way across my face.

"What do you mean by that?!" I noticed a slight twitch in his eye and my slight grin broke into a bigger smile. He looked at me with a curious, almost insulted, gaze. "Are you saying I'm one of those guys that just plays around with girls?"

I laughed. "No, you just said that. All I said was that you were flirty."

He stared at me for a little while. "I... uh... yeah. Okay." He stuttered. Slowly, he stood up, turning towards the inn. "Well, I should be going now."

I smiled, staring into the still unhidden moon. "So soon?"

"Yeah. Can't stay any longer, uh... my parents... will be worried about me..." He trailed off, walking away from me.

'_Liar._' I thought to myself, watching him leave. Well, my plan had worked. And it had taken barely any prying at all! I brought my arms up to rest on my knees, and traced the smile on my lips with my finger. Then I realized something. "Wait!" I called.

He paused, looking over his shoulder at me. "Yeah?"

I smiled happily. "Thanks. You don't know how much better you've made me feel about... some things tonight." I admitted, catching up with him and giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "Maybe we could meet up again sometime?"

He nodded obliviously, his hand on his cheek. "Yeah. Sure. Sounds fun."

I nodded happily. "Okay then!" I declared. "Thanks again Rock." I turned towards the direction of the bar and started walking home. Maybe I would be able to get over Jack sooner than I had thought.

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The end! o-o Hopefully that was an okay read for you, without _too_ much OOCness... well, ah... review please! 


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